JS, so that means that they (the city) are tearing down a nearly 1,000 space chunk and simply moving it, in essence, unto the actual AF property? It appears the parking will be three stories spread out over quite a bit of the northern part of the site.
Hood, what we see in the press release is nothing more than a simple massing, not a real rendering, a placeholder. I'm pleased with the height. This is one case where I wouldn't want to see a building much taller, and definitely not taller than the station.
Also, pick up this weeks City Pulse; it has a very interesting CAD representation of the project as looking east down Ionia. The new addition, at least in size, will be quite impressive as seen from the higher grounds of the west.
I scanned this simple rendering from city pulse, it gives a rough idea of what size and heigt this will be:
I made this new building in google sketch up by using the sketch as a background. It's hard to say how accurate it is, but here are a couple of angles:
I actually like the look of the smokestack, the building looks naked without it. I seem to be in the minority, most seem happy to see the smokestack go.
You're not in the minority, here. It would seem I'd be the forth to say that I like the building much better with the smokestack. Even though it is offset it gives it balance, and is a major skyline landmark. I'd like to see them turn it into some kind of decoration, as well.
I had no idea that it wasn't originally part of the station, though. It seems to have been added over ten years after completion because of the redevelopment of taller buildings around it, which, I still don't completely understand.
One key reason to get rid of the stack is that it creates structural issues for the building.
If you've ever been in the Ottawa Power Station, you'll see a lot of steel bracing that - like the stack - isn't original to the structure. It was added to give the building stability because of the stack (I assume because of the weight of it in connection with the wind).
There's so much bracing inside that it would be difficult to hide it all within walls etc.
My understanding is that they added the smokestack because the taller buildings were creating downdrafts that were causing the smoke from the plant to move down into the city. I like the look of the building with the stack, but I also realize that it's more realistic to remove it. I would like to see the BWL neon sign back on though. ;-)
I was hoping the same thing, not that they'd reuse the current neon sign, but get a new one that shows their company name. Lansing has always been rather unique to have so many neon elements to it's skyline, and it has been unfortunate to see the letters on the station go dark, and to see the Michigan National sign dismantled.
Comments
Hood, what we see in the press release is nothing more than a simple massing, not a real rendering, a placeholder. I'm pleased with the height. This is one case where I wouldn't want to see a building much taller, and definitely not taller than the station.
Also, pick up this weeks City Pulse; it has a very interesting CAD representation of the project as looking east down Ionia. The new addition, at least in size, will be quite impressive as seen from the higher grounds of the west.
I made this new building in google sketch up by using the sketch as a background. It's hard to say how accurate it is, but here are a couple of angles:
I had no idea that it wasn't originally part of the station, though. It seems to have been added over ten years after completion because of the redevelopment of taller buildings around it, which, I still don't completely understand.
If you've ever been in the Ottawa Power Station, you'll see a lot of steel bracing that - like the stack - isn't original to the structure. It was added to give the building stability because of the stack (I assume because of the weight of it in connection with the wind).
There's so much bracing inside that it would be difficult to hide it all within walls etc.